Written by

Pam J. Hecht

Ronan Geoffrey, 9 and Grace Geoffrey, 7, of Candler, play in the fairy garden village they created. / Special to WNC Parent

More

ADVERTISEMENT

You don’t have to spend a fortune to make your backyard an enticing place for kids.

When it comes to outdoor fun, a little goes a long way, says Kris Kaufman, healthy living and youth development director, YMCA of Western North Carolina.

Use what you have

Set up an obstacle course, for use either with or without a timer, for fun that also builds balance, cardio and motor skills, Kaufman says. Walk a jump rope or garden hose, crawl on a tarp or under a broom placed in between two chairs or tree branches, weave through cones or large rocks and jump hopscotch-style into hula hoops.

Keep balls in a laundry basket for ball toss and fill a milk crate or other easily accessible outdoor container with a variety of play items like Frisbees, bubbles, horseshoes, bats and rackets. A tent can serve as a playhouse and a set of old dishes and cups can inspire a spontaneous garden tea party. An outdoor plastic easel and paint or a music wall with old pans and other things hung on a fence with spoons for banging can also inspire creativity. “Paint” pictures on a patio floor with water and brushes.

“Like many parents of young children, we just had to have yard equipment for our kids,” says Rae Geoffrey, of Candler. So her husband, Jarrod, built a swing set and playhouse using recycled building supplies and the kids hung old sheets for doors and painted the walls with leftover paint.

But as son Ronan, 9, and daughter Grace, 7, got older, she says, they began abandoning the swings and playhouse for other backyard fun.

“Most days they can be seen rolling down our hill, playing (complex) imaginary games” or doing other outdoor activities, says Geoffrey.

Nature's toys

The Geoffrey family spends a lot of time in the backyard, she adds. Ronan and Grace can often be seen throwing a ball to their two dogs, herding chickens into their coop, gathering eggs or gardening in their large raised garden beds. Some of the vegetables and berries the Geoffreys grow end up as part of the dinner the family takes every Sunday to “Granny,” a neighbor who is like a grandmother, and this year, they are also planting extra for MANNA FoodBank, Geoffrey adds.

(Page 2 of 2)

Grace and Ronan turned a pile of dirt into a fairy village, and they regularly make changes and additions to “their miniature world,” says Geoffrey.

Families could keep an area or bin filled with pine cones, sticks and rocks. If your yard is hilly, kids can dig out a “stream,” to experiment with water flow.

Hide small toys, marbles or faux gems from a dollar store in a pile of dirt or sand on a tarp and kids can dig for treasures with shovels or sticks. For the littler ones, throw in some large kitchen utensils, plastic action figures and construction trucks to create roads and villages. Or fill containers with dirt, sand, gravel, rice or beans.

Kids can make their own forts out of branches or hay bales. Doral Davis-Jacobsen, of East Asheville, says son Cayden, 10, and his friends have used scraps from trees cut down by the power company, with fabric draped over them, she says.

Hang a tire swing or hammock to the trees. Keep handy magnifying glasses, bug catchers and binoculars. A large log can be fun for balancing. A wood beam balanced on a tree stump can serve as a homemade seesaw.

Water fun

The tried and true Slip n’ Slide is always a big hit with kids, as are lawn sprinklers or water spray toys that attach to a hose. Put down a shower curtain or large tarp with soapy water, flour or homemade slime for more slippery, messy fun. Make an outdoor bubble bath with a kiddie pool.

Davis-Jacobsen’s daughter Aryelle, 12, and her friends have hours of fun with a self-invented balloon chain, filling long balloons and connecting them by twisting the balloon ends together.

For younger kids, fill plastic bins with water, plastic cups for pouring and dishes to “wash.”

For bubble-making fun, fill a container with water, eco-friendly dish soap and corn syrup or glycerin (go online for exact measurements) and use old wire hangers as the frames for bubbles.

Outdoor cooking

The Jacobsens made a solar oven (with a lesson from YouTube) and “had a blast trying” to bake a pie in it for an East Asheville Recreation Center contest, also experimenting with eggs, toast and grilled cheese.

The family also enjoys using an ice cream ball — theirs was $20 from Bed, Bath & Beyond, she says. After filling the ball with rock salt, cream, sugar and flavoring, her kids enjoy tossing it around outside and after about 30 minutes of play, enjoy an ice cream picnic.

Lawn games

Set up lawn bowling with bottles from your recycling bin as the pins or toss games with hula hoops laid flat. Set out a simple badminton or volleyball net and for croquet or golf, dig little pots into the ground and use any type of improvised putter and golf balls to play. Use brooms and a beach ball for lawn hockey or hang a basketball hoop.

Bring games like Twister outdoors and store in waterproof containers.

And don’t forget to show kids how to organize and store their outdoor equipment, so it will be ready, at a moment’s notice, to use again.